From Burning Ashes (Collector Series #4) (22 page)

His silence picked at my irritation button
like a scab.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Ryker. Just get it out.
Tell me I was stupid. What I did was foolish and rash. Go ahead.
You know you want to,” I taunted, but my voice sounded hot with
anger. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you wouldn’t have done the
same to try and save someone you care about. Did you see them? Any
of them? Vadik is sucking the life out of them, literally. Annabeth
is chained to a bed—” My voice broke with emotion recalling the
memory. “She’s being used as a prostitute. She’s fourteen! What if
it had been your sister? Tell me you wouldn’t have tried to save
her, no matter the costs.”

It wasn’t till that moment I realized that
was exactly how I thought of Annabeth. I barely knew her, but in
the little time we had spent together, she lodged deep inside me.
Her strength reminded me so much of Lexie, and she created her own
spot in my heart. She and Lexie were the little sisters, the
family, I never had. I would fight for her just as hard.

“Screw you.” His silence caused my emotions
to mushroom. “I do not regret trying to get her out of there. I
would do it again.”

His feet moved toward me, swallowing the
space between us in three strides. Instinct slammed into me,
wanting to retreat. I forced myself to stay as his feet flushed up
to mine, and I kept my head high. His chest heaved as his eyes
wandered over me, really taking me in. His strong fingers cupped my
face, turning my head more up to his. Feeling his touch with his
warm body so close to mine flooded me with familiar contrasting
sensations. Hunger and bliss.

Home.
My heart sang.

He didn’t speak while his fingers explored my
face, his thumb dragging slowly across my bottom lip. My skin
burned as his penetrating gaze rolled over every inch of me, making
me feel naked and vulnerable.

“I am furious,” he spoke low and husky. “But
not for trying to save someone you care about.”

“Then why?” I struggled to talk, his touch
clogging all thoughts.

“Because there was a moment I thought I lost
you. No. I did lose you.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“Again.”

My forehead crunched up in slight
confusion.

“No one was there to save you, human. I felt
the oath break. For good.”

My mouth opened, but nothing came out. I had
died before. Well, sort of. Croygen and the fae magic brought me
back to life.

“Your human body completely died tonight.” He
licked his lip, a shot of fear pinching the corner of his eyes. “I
felt it. The link. Our oath broke. It must have been connected to
the human you. Not the fae you. When your human part died, so did
the promise.”

“Wait. What?” My mouth gaped open. “Are you
saying I’m completely fae now?” That’s why my senses were on
steroids. Why energy poured through me like Gatorade. It was
magic.

Holy shit. I was entirely fae?

“Even more than me.” His mouth twitched with
a smile. “Your life is no longer counted in human years.”

Whoa. I hadn’t thought about that. The moment
the powers decided to stay, choosing to permanently live with me,
they had altered me. My life. My DNA. I would not age like a human
anymore. Ryker and I were on even terrain.

I was a Wanderer.

Holy hell
. I was one hundred percent
fae? The same thing I spent most of my life against, trained to
hate and kill. My brain couldn’t fully wrap around the fact I
remained no longer human.

I waited for a wave of sadness, a feeling of
loss, possibly a sense of horror. I didn’t. At all. That actually
upset me the most. All those years of hating and killing fae, I
should have had some adverse reaction to the fact I was totally one
of them now. Maybe having Ryker’s powers for the past several
months had me accustomed to being “semi” fae, I don’t know. But
against everything I had been taught, I felt oddly relieved. Even
happy, like this is what I was supposed to be all along.

“The curse broke because
I
killed you.
I was the reason you fell. Your death was by my hand.” Ryker
pressed his mouth together, his jaw twitching. If the curse broke,
it meant he no longer had the desire to kill me. “If some of my
powers hadn’t decided to stay with you…” His lids squeezed shut,
his head shaking slightly.

I suddenly got it—his bristling anger. That’s
where the true anger lay—with himself and with his fear. It was
exactly how I reacted to things. “That’s why you’re mad.” I
couldn’t get my voice above a whisper. His hands gripped my face
forcefully.

He inclined his head, tapping his forehead
against mine. His warm breath fluttered down my neck. My lids
squeezed together as his hand slid around to my neck and gripped me
tightly. The world disappeared around us…one of those moments it
was only us.

“Now that it’s broken, are you…?”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

He always seemed to know exactly what I was
thinking. Relief came out in a shaky breath.

“Not sure I would have been able to anyway.”
He brushed his nose against mine. “I don’t know how you did it or
when…” he muttered. Our mouths were so close, but neither of us
moved to fuse the distance. I reached up, sliding my hand down his
cheek, his scruff tickling my hand.

“What?”

His throat bobbed again, but his words came
out strong and hard. “You made me fall in love with you.”

My chest clenched, air expanding in my
throat.
Did I hear him right?
“What did you say?”

“I’m in love with you,
human
.” He
growled, his mouth so close I could feel the vibration.

The declaration took a moment to cascade down
and soak in. Ryker, the Wanderer, the feared Viking, the man who
was a demon fae with a touch of human, just told me he loved
me.

He was also the man who held me when I was
scared and turned himself over to DMG because he’d rather be near
me than safe. The man who put a candle in a loaf of bread for my
birthday, patched me up, took me up to Machu Picchu because he knew
I wanted to see it, and who fought and loved me with a ferocity
nothing in this world could match.

And I was completely in love with him as
well. My lips parted to tell him, but he spoke first.

“I swear to the gods, Zoey. If anything
happens to you…” His grip turned brutal. “I hate this. I hate
knowing you completely have me by the ball sac.”

I smiled. “I promise to be somewhat
gentle.”

“No safe words. Ever.”

“That I can
promise
.”

He lifted his head; his lids narrowed.
“That’s the last time you will use that word ever again. You are
fae now. The word holds a lot of power. You can’t say it anymore.
You got it?”

“I promi—”

His lips came down on mine, stomping out my
sentence. The feel of his mouth on mine turned my body to butter.
Heat pulsed from my breasts to my thighs.

It felt as if someone detonated a bomb inside
me. The need for him became so overwhelming and instantaneous my
head spun. His tongue and lips tugged at my top lip, and a needy,
desperate noise escaped my throat as if of its own volition. His
fingers dug into my scalp as he pulled me closer.

It was not enough. My fingers shoved his coat
off his shoulders. He let it drop to the floor as my hands dove
under his shirt, running over the ridges of his abs and around to
his rear end. Oh man, how I missed his perky tush.

A hand dropped from my head and trailed down
my torso. Everywhere his fingers brushed, fire burned, tightening
the need in my abdomen. Holy hell did I want this. I nipped at his
bottom lip. My hands pushed past jeans and boxer briefs, roaming
over his bare ass, my nails skimming over to his V-line.

Ryker swore under his breath, his grip on me
burned into my skin. His legs pushed mine toward the blankets. My
fingers tugged at the buttons of his jeans as we stumbled
backward.

“Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat behind
Ryker, and we both froze. “Sorry to interrupt, but I think you’ll
find what I have to say more important than a quick fuck.” Amara’s
tone could not hide her hurt, which surprised me.

Ryker jerked away from me, his arms dropping
as he turned to look over his shoulder. My body’s reaction to his
sudden absence shocked me. Handling him with violence and
indifference had been torture after being so close to him for so
long. Now given the opportunity to let my guard down, I never
wanted to stop touching him. I clenched my hands and peered around
Ryker.

“What?” I snapped, my irritation only rising
when I saw Ryker buttoning his pants before fully facing her. Did
she interrupt us on purpose? Her reason had better be epic or she
would see what happened when my lust turned to violence.

Amara stood in the doorway watching us. There
was a slight lift to her shoulders. I thought maybe I saw tears
brimming under her aloof gaze, her lips pressed in a firm thin
line. She quickly held her chin up, her face and tone
unemotional.

“I thought you guys might want to know…but if
you are too busy getting it on to care about your sister or
Croygen.” She shrugged.

“What is it, Amara?” Ryker gritted his
jaw.

“They’re not here.”

“What?” I moved alongside Ryker. “What do you
mean?”

“Just what I said. They. Are. Gone.”

“They can’t be.” I crossed my arms, confusion
pushing away the meaning of her words.

A smugness lifted one of Amara’s eyebrows.
“Well, they are. They left a note.”

My feet were moving before my brain caught up
with them. “Lexie? Croygen?” I screamed as I ran into the main
room. Silence greeted me back. A few bubbles of alarm floated
up.

“Sprig?” Again, nothing responded.

“He’s still here.” Amara motioned over to the
table.

My gaze went to the tiny, furry figure on the
counter. Lying on his back, a dozen empty packets of honey fanned
out around him, Sprig snored softly.

They were all the packets I had been storing
up for Sprig to be eaten over time. Everyone knew he couldn’t eat
more than three without going into a sugar overdose and narcoleptic
sleep. Sometimes he only needed one.

“Sprig!” I ran to him, my hand rubbing his
soft belly. There was no point. Sprig seemed to be down for the
count.

“You said there was a note?” Ryker came up,
addressing Amara.

Amara picked a piece of folded paper off the
table and handed it to him. I snatched it from him, my fingers
trembling as I tried to unfold it.

Scratchy handwriting scrawled on the paper. I
knew Lexie’s loopy, girly handwriting instantly. My eyes scanned
over the words, my brain struggling to understand.

Zoey,

I will not let you risk your life for me
again. You can keep denying it, but you know the truth. I am sick.
I need medication and help, which only Dr. Rapava can give me. It
was a fantasy, a wish, to think you could simply go in and get it.
But I know you. You won’t stop till I’m okay. I can’t let you do
that. Not when I can do it for myself. Don’t worry about me. I will
be okay. They won’t hurt me. They need me for research too much.
And I’m not going alone. Croygen would not let me go unless he went
with me. He made me promise. Told me someone needed to protect me.
So I’ve got my very own sexy pirate escorting me! Take that, stupid
bitches at school!

Don’t forget, I love you, Zoey. More than
you could ever know. That’s why I have to go. And I’m sorry for all
the pain I caused you.

Lexie

P.S. I still think you should paint your
toenails. Fire red. Might get Ryker’s head out of his ass. You’ll
thank me!

P.P.S. Sorry about Sprig. Only way we could
get out. Wow…does he go off the rails after four honey packets!

“Are you kidding me?” I spoke, my hands
shaking. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I screamed. I felt gutted
and drained. Panic for my sister stirred my feet. How could Croygen
betray me like that? “I have to stop them.”

“How?” Amara lifted her arms. “You have no
idea where they went. Besides, they are probably long gone by now.
They weren’t here when I got back.”

“When did you return?” I demanded.

“About ten minutes before you. I stopped for
a drink on the...” She kept talking, but my mind and body were
already gone. Desperation to find them had me bolt for the
door.

“Zoey!” Ryker bellowed after me.

I kept running. I had to at least try. I
sprinted out of the building and down the street on instinct. My
mind would not let logic in yet, so I relied completely on my
intuition. In my soul I knew it was more than instinct that led me
forward. My new deeper fae ability heightened an urge I felt in my
gut.

I heard feet pounding pavement behind me;
Ryker. I wound us through the alley, coming out on a main road.

Croygen was smart. He would not let DMG know
where we were staying, but he would have to carry Lexie. So they
would still have to be relatively close. Night or not, DMG would
not meet on an open street. They would use a parking structure or a
side street.

The streets were silent, everyone tucked away
for the night as I sprinted down Second Avenue, nearing Pike’s
Place. A few streetlights illuminated our path. My gaze flashed
over the outlines of cranes and bulldozers. New and old buildings
with large empty gaps hulked down the dark boulevards. I turned up
a side street.

“Zoey, what are you doing?” Ryker grabbed my
hips, yanking me to a stop. He twirled me to face him, both of us
gasping for breath.

“Let go!” I pulled against him. “You’re
letting them get away.”

“How do you know? They might have left hours
ago.” His voice was steady as he tried to get me to see reason.
When it came to my sister, I had no logic. I had none with him
either.